We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

... this city has never reconciled itself to Trump's victory, and the president daily rubs their noses in their defeat with his tweets.

Seeking a rationale for its rejection, this city has seized upon that old standby. We didn't lose! The election was stolen in a vast conspiracy, an "act of war" against America, an assault upon "our democracy," criminal collusion between the Kremlin and the Trumpites.

Hence, Trump is an illegitimate president, and it is the duty of brave citizens of both parties to work to remove the usurper.

Gays wanted tolerance, then acceptance; now they want adulation. The current lack of adulation is what upsets them. They don't like that Trump thinks jobs and Korea are more important than gays encroaching into every aspect of American life. The radicals want the US to be as much a gay country as it once was a Christian country.

Fifty years ago you could be fired for being gay. Now, you can be fired for criticism of the gay lifestyle, yet, they're complaining.

OK. I can't fault anyone giving good conventional wisdom. But seriously does anyone believe that if Trump didn't tweet and did all the "right" things that we would see less sabotage and dirty tricks by the left??? I can't help but believe that most people who tell Trump not to tweet and not to respond really want him to fail. I.e. just sit there and take it while everyone and their brother piles on. This is what irritated me so much about Bush. He wouldn't let the naysayers get to him and wouldn't respond to the attacks. So they attacked him mercilessly at will.

Trump isn't like that. He doesn't take it lying down he attacks back. Maybe with the entire MSM against you that isn't very effective but at least he fights back. IMHO that is why his base does not abandon him in the face of these witch hunts and MSM attacks.

It is also worth noting that behind the scenes almost unnoticed by the MSM Trump is getting things done. IF the White house was in total turmoil as the MSM would have you believe I would also advise Trump to change his tactics. But it isn't.

My advice to Trump is double down; follow through on your promises. Build the wall, hire more border patrol and ICE agents. Appoint judges, rebuild the military. Cut/slash the budgets of most of the federal government. Bring "justice" back to the DOJ.

"But seriously does anyone believe that if Trump didn't tweet and did all the "right" things that we would see less sabotage and dirty tricks by the left???"

Oh, there's no way he could do all the right things they're complaining about. It's HIM they object to, after all. He's not playing the usual political games. He's not quivering in abject fear of the talking heads disapproving of him. He's not breathlessly hanging on approval ratings.

He's tossing out a tweet that the media obsesses over - and he's working pretty much uninterrupted trying to get the country back on track. When the media barking fades, he tosses out a few more tweets to generate more 'outrage', and distract them once again.

He's playing them like a flippin' violin, and they're enthusiastically going where he's pointing them - right off a cliff.

I am very knowledgeable about Venezuela and have no problem dealing with PSF, a.k.a. Pendejos sin Fronteras. (idiots beyond/without frontiers.) My years of reading the Z-Team's postings on this and other blogs indicate to me that the Z-Team falls short of the level of derangement needed to currently defend Chavismo. Perhaps the Z-Team will prove me wrong.

My take on those commenters who today defend Chavismo is that they can be divided into two parts: hard-core Chavistas/PSF who are in it for the long haul, and deranged lefties who a year ago couldn't pick out Venezuela on a map and still can't distinguish an arepa from an aardvark.

Yes, there is a lot of radio silence these days regarding Venezuela- especially from the Hollywood crowd. Sean Penn? Oliver Stone? I was referring to those who STILL publicly supported Chavismo, as shown in blog comments. As you point out, that number is much reduced from previous years.

You may recall last year during the presidential campaign that there was a lot of back and forth about Bernie Sanders and Venezuela. Wingnuts: Consider the failure of socialism in Venezuela when you look at Socialist Bernie. Progs: Bernie's socialism isn't about Venezuela at all, but about Sweden or Denmark. Bernie: no comment.

These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?

The American dream is more likely to be realized in Venezuela than in the United States, Bernie Sanders tells us. As we all want to realize the American dream, we should emulate Venezuela, Bernie Sanders tells us. Just as Mayor Bernie said that Sandinista Nicaragua should be a model for Vermont.

BTW, while Venezuela is purported to have those GREAT inequality statistics that Bernie Sanders adores, they don't take into account all the billions that the upper level Chavistas are skimming off the top. If that were reported in the income figures, the reported inequality figures for Venezuela would be a lot higher.

How accurate was Bernie in his statement about income inequality in the US compared to the above 3 South American Countries? It turns out, not very accurate.

Today in 2017, the World Bank has GINI (inequality) data up to 2014, so it is fair to conclude that when Bernie spoke in 2011, he had 2008 GINI data available.

The World Bank reports the GINI index on a scale of 1 to 100. The ECLA reports the GINI index on a scale of 0 to 1. Nonetheless, they give similar results. The lower the GINI index, the more equal the income distribution. By the above figures, the US had more equal incomes than Ecuador and Argentina. While Venezuela had a more equal income distribution than the US, the difference was minimal. .412/41.2 versus 41.75.

Bernie has the reputation of being a pol who "tells it like it is." Bernie's misreporting the differences in equality of income when comparing the US with Ecuador and Argentina shows that instead of being an honest sort who tells it like it is, Bernie will say anything that will advance his agenda- in this case castigating the US- whether it is true or not.
Bernie is just another BSing politician. Not surprising when you consider that Senator Three-House Bernie is up in arms about income inequality. Equality for thee, not for me, says Senator Three-House Bernie.

While some may point out in defense of Bernie that he did call Hugo Chavez a "communist dictator," one should bear in mind the decades-long bromance Bernie has had with Fidel Castro, also a "communist dictator."

Trump is not stupid. The claim he is 'falling into traps' is incorrect. He is setting up traps that the media and the left keep falling for. His tweets are very calculated to distract or send people running in a totally different direction.

Were we even talking about 'unmasking' until Trump tweeted about it?

Were we even talking about 'tapes' until Trump tweeted about it?

Don't forget, while the press and the left are distracted by 'Russia' and the rumors of rumors that never happen, Trump is making huge gains. The cutting of regulations alone has made a huge difference in this country. Didn't you see the report about the new coal mine opening in PA? And the report that coal companies are showing profits for the first time in forever? And that is just the start.

Reminder: Trump has only been in office since January.

Oh, and the latest news is that Congress will be forgoing the summer recess in order to get healthcare and tax reform done. We've been told this is happening, it will never make it through, etc. Get ready to be shocked.

I'm almost positive Trump is providing coverage for Congress to crank out these bills with little opposition in the press. There has been almost NO reporting on what has been happening. Meanwhile, the economy keeps improving and jobs keep returning.

Trump has all his critics buffaloed. I'm loving every minute of watching those arrogant career politicians and DC/Wall Street insiders sputter and pound their shoes on their desks and insist "he can't do that!" while he marches down the path he set during his campaign.

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Interesting, I would have said Obama was the one who merited impeachment, since he refused to get the Senate's consent as required by the Constitution, and instead illegally signed it without authority.

The U.S. was not a party to the Paris Agreement to start with, despite what Obama pretended.

Obama. The Great Pretender. Just wait until the citizens finally recognize how vastly he screwed them, their kids and their grandkids.

I just had time to watch the replay of PDJT's first full cabinet meeting (welcome, Jeff Sessiona) and feel so confident that these people will work to restore the rule of law and celebrate all who celebrate The Constitution of our Republic.

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